It’s Party Day!

You can join us for a look back at Heart of the Matter, interviews with founders Amy Stults and Amy Bayliss, TONS of give-aways, interviews from contributing writers and of course, a look to the future.

You can join us by listening at: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/heart-of-the-matter-live

You can join us on our facebook page: Heart of the Matter on Facebook

You join us by Twitter: @hotmonline  and our hashtag used for give aways is: #hotmparty

and you can call in by calling: (602) 753-1896

Look at the list of companies doing give aways at our FB, Twitter and BTR party this next Tuesday: Joyous Home, Journey Through Learning, The Home Scholar, Me and My House, Grapevine Studies, Shining Dawn Books, Hands of a Child, Raising Real Men, New Millennium Girl Books, and more. Don’t miss it!

My beloved friend Marsha Drews is expecting a little boy on February 22nd and we are throwing a cyber party to welcome Ian Kenneth into the Drews family.

There will be GAMES, PRIZES and lots of GIGGLES! Invite everyone you know! Even if you don’t currently know Marsha, I know you’ll fall in love with her once you get to know this super sweet and silly mom…and we know everyone loves babies – so please join in the fun on January 9th.

Marsha and her family are currently living on the island of Guam. Shipping to Guam is the same as shipping within the states, however it does take a bit longer for packages to arrive. Please email me at amy@milkandcookiesblog.com for Marsha’s address if you have a gift to
send her.

My co-host for the party is the lovely Darcy.  Games and giveaways will be open all day to give everyone a chance to participate and Marsha will be available off and on all day to check in to answer questions and get to know everyone. Be sure to visit the Facebook party page and sign up to received a reminder and updates.

Want a sneak peek at just some of the goodies you can win… 

• Five attendees will win a package of beauty care products from Mac Cosmetics worth $100 each! 
• One winner will receive a jar of TARTE D’AMANDE Soufflé Riche Pour Le Corps: ALMOND PIE Rich Soufflé Lotion for the Body 
• One winner will receive a $30 gift card to Chocolate.com

Heart of the Matter could not be what it is without the support of our wonderful sponsors. Please join us in thanking them for producing such amazing products and services to benefit the homeschooling community.

Welcome to My Child’s Bookshelf

We are a family owned business that offers new and used children’s books at reasonable prices. We believe there are few things more important than investing in your child’s future through books. That’s why getting our books in to the hands of children is our primary goal. The best way for us to achieve that goal is to provide you with great customer service. Every time we serve a customer well, a child is given the gift of books.

My Child’s Bookshelf offers free priority shipping on orders of $50 or more, a nice selection of books $1.00 or less, and $1.50 to $3.00.

Simple. Convenient. Easy…Thank You In a Box

Thank You In a Box makes it convenient and simple to send a note of appreciation by providing everything you need in one simple box………hence our ‘Thank You Boxes!

Our ‘Thank You’ Boxes includes:

• 20 Personalized Cards & Envelopes (w/ return address)
• 20 Forever Postage Stamps ($8.80 value)
• 2 Keeping Track Record Sheets
• 1 Black Ink Pen

These boxes make the perfect gifts because they make writing a note so simple! Instead of spending energy worrying if the stamps you have are the current first class rate, you will find yourself giddy anticipating the joy your note recipient will have as they find a personal note in their mailbox from YOU!

Our boxes have come to the aid of brides, grooms, graduates, new mommies, new daddies, children, and every other kind of thoughtful note writers.

Welcome to Maestro Classics

Maestro Classics produces Stories in Music™, a classical music CD series for children ages 5 to 12 and their parents. Entertaining and educational, these CDs have won over 45 national awards.

Our Mission: To cultivate a love of music through education and joyful performances.

Stories in Music™ is the award-winning audio CD series for family listening. These recordings for narrator and symphony orchestra introduce great music and classics stories and provide the opportunity to develop important listening skills.

Three Major Benefits:

• Expand listening horizons.
• Develop listening skills and accumulate musical memories.
• Encourage adults and children to listen to music together.

via www.jimmiescollage.com

Thirteen Ways to Reuse a Page A Day Art Calendar by Jimmie’s Collage – I keep intending to order one of those Metropolitan page-a-day art calendars that Jimmie has recommended so highly. Now, I have 13 more reasons to quite procrastinating.

Cinnamon Roll Bread by Money Saving Mom – I have a friend who makes the most incredible cinnamon rolls. I’ve tried her recipe and mine never turn out as good as hers, plus, they’re a lot of trouble. I’m thinking I might be able to handle this cinnamon roll bread, though. I bet I’ve got some willing taste-testers.

12 Ways of Christmas: Greeting Cards! by See Jamie Blog – Need some ideas for unique Christmas cards to send out this year? Jamie’s got ‘em! From fun, simple cards the whole family can help with to elegant cards that will bring out the artist in you, these greeting card ideas will get your creative juices flowing.

Get Ready! What “What to Expect” Doesn’t Tell You about Preparing for Birth by The Mommy Memos – I wish I’d read these 7 practical tips before my three births. Numbers 2 and 5 would top my list these days.

Making Books in Your Homeschool by The Homeschool Classroom – Simple tips for five different types of books you and your kids can enjoy making together.

Life’s Not Fair by Blogging ‘Bout Boys – A mom’s reflection on her role in helping her boys navigate a world that isn’t always perfectly proportioned slices of pie for everyone.

Raising Strong Kids by We Are That Family – Reading this touching account of Kristen’s son grappling with his “weirdness”, I couldn’t help but think of Isaiah 11:6, “…and a little child will lead them.”

5 Things Homeschooling Has Taught Me by The Homeschool Classroom – Homeschooling is about more than academics and oftentimes it’s Mom who learns as much as the kids.

Do This Today and Change Everything by Steady Mom – Do you have problems with peace in your home or is it just me? Jamie shares a simple, but profound truth about peace vs. productivity.

Strawberry Baked Oatmeal by Smockity Frocks – We love baked oatmeal! I don’t make it very often anymore since it’s not the most calorie-friendly breakfast choice and my kids don’t like it when I mess with the basic recipe, but I’m going to have to make this strawberry version soon. Yum!

Kris Bales has been married to her incredible husband for 20 years. Together, they’re raising their three Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers, who range in age from 10 to 16. Kris is Christian, Southern, and sweet-tea-addicted. She enjoys reading, writing and photography. In addition to blogging about life as a homeschool mom, you can find her at Eclipsed where she chronicles her transformation from a morbidly obese couch potato to a runner in training for her first half-marathon.

Last February, we hosted a 10 Days of Homeschooling Blog Hop with 16 of our bloggy friends. This series was so much fun (not to mention inspiring and educational) that we are eager to host another one! Join us November 7-11 and 14-18 for another round of 160 posts full of holiday ideas, recipes, homeschooling tips, marriage encouragement, and more! Brought to you by these lovely ladies…

Christine from Fruit in Season, Sally from I Take Joy, Toni from The Happy Housewife, Amy from Raising Arrows

Kris from Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers, Amy from Milk & Cookies, Cindy from Our Journey Westward, Courtney from Women Living Well

Montserrat from Chocolate on My Cranium, Jimmie from Jimmie’s Collage, Heather from Blog, She Wrote, Erica from Confessions of a Homeschooler

Brenda from The Tie That Binds Us, Jenny from Homeschooling Belle, Kendra from Preschoolers and Peace, Maggie from Bright Ideas Press

Do you rise at dawn, say the pledge of allegiance, sit at desks, have recess? Do you school year round or do nature hikes? Or do you start well-caffeinated and hide in the bathroom for your own recess? Tell us about a typical (or not so typical) day in the life of your homeschool.

Blog Hop Rules

• The amount of traffic this hop has generated has actually crashed the server several times in the past two weeks!! We are actually pretty happy about this as it means you all are loving the blog hop! So if you visit and see the site down, don’t worry, it will be back up in minutes.

• To add your link, click the small blue button that says “Add your link” at the very bottom of the post. Please do not leave your link in the comment section of this post. Leaving your link in the comment section will most likely cause your post to be missed.

• Do not create an empty “placeholder” post to save your link high up in the blog hop list. If there is no substance or curriculum information in your post, it will be removed.

• You must link to your blog post permalink, not your blog URL. If you do not link to your POST, your link will be removed and you’ll have to come back and re-add it. Keep in mind that readers will still be visiting this blog hop months from now and if they click your link and end up on your blog homepage, they won’t be able to find your post. To find your post’s permalink: After you publish your post, go back to your blog and click on the post’s title. Copy everything in the top browser bar. Please see Darcy’s post on how to find your permalink for more details. For example:
  …
  • WRONG: http://www.milkandcookiesblog.com/
  • RIGHT: http://www.milkandcookiesblog.com/2011/07/not-back-to-school-hop-curriculum-week.html

Come back often to visit new additions all week this week, and next Monday is A Day in the Life. My personal favorite week of the hop! Grab a button so your bloggy friends can share their hard work, too.

I find my love of blogging incredibly ironic. In my college computer class, I hit the table with frustration saying to the computer, “Why can’t you just do what I want you to do?”

Computers have come a long way since using DOS commands in the late 1980s. When I started blogging in 2007, I was in Asia with very little homeschool support. I had no idea how blogging would influence me and my homeschool journey. Now I have two homeschooling blogs and don’t imagine giving up blogging any time soon. I’ve made real life friends through my blog, found support during difficult times of isolation, and encouraged other moms with free resources I created.

So what about you? Should you start a homeschooling blog?

Reasons to Keep a Homeschool Blog

To Document
It’s easy to get so bogged down in the day to day routine of homeschooling that you don’t realize just how much your children really are covering in their lessons. Blogging gives you a record that documents the lessons, field trips, arts and crafts, extracurricular activities, and even spiritual victories in your days.

To Stay Accountable
If you feel all alone in your homeschooling, a blog can provide a sense of accountability. Telling your blog readers your homeschooling resolutions can give you motivation to follow through. And receiving positive feedback in the form of blog comments is a great perk, too.

To Show Off and Teach
When you and your children have invested time in elaborate homeschool projects, it’s natural to want to share them. Those show-off posts become another mom’s inspiration. In fact, you may have some wonderful parenting and teaching insights that you are longing to share with other moms. A blog can be a great avenue to reach women that you otherwise would never have access to.

To Share
Blog posts are ideal for listing links to the great freebies you found for your last unit study. Not only are they there to help others, but you can find them yourself the next time you need them. You can review books and homeschool curriculum on your own blog so that your opinions can help other moms make good decisions. You can also upload the worksheets, notebooking pages, and lapbooking templates you created and offer those for others to use. Blogs are perfect for generous homeschoolers.

To Keep Family Informed
If your family lives far away, a blog is a great way to maintain those family ties through the photos and daily anecdotes that are shared there.

What Should You Consider Before Starting a Homeschool Blog?

Who is your audience?
If you are writing to grandparents, aunts, and uncles, then a detailed post about Sammy’s third birthday party is perfect. But if you want a wider audience, you may want to tailor your posts for broader appeal. Consider what another homeschool mom can glean from each post – a tip, a great link, or a bit of encouragement.

How much money should you spend?
Most people begin blogging on a free platform. But if they stick with it long enough, they tend to purchase their own domain and spend a little money on the hobby.

Registering a domain and paying for hosting fees is less than $100 a year. But blogging expenses can multiply when you add up things like custom graphics, photo hosting services, digital video cameras, and blogging conferences.

But don’t let that intimidate you. Blogging can be a free hobby too.  If you’ve never blogged before, beginning with a free platform is ideal. If it turns out to be too much of a burden or it loses its excitement, you’ve not lost anything except your time.
Free blogging platforms

• Homeschool Journal
• Blogger (Google)
• WordPress
• TypePad

How much time should you spend?
I’m going to be honest with you. Blogging can take a lot of time if you let it. Your homeschool blog can take a life of its own as it drives you to check for comments, look at your traffic stats, answer reader emails, and organize giveaways. Set boundaries early so that blogging doesn’t take a negative toll. Your family and your homeschool should always have the priority over the homeschool blog.

How much should you share?
Before you publish the very first post, think seriously about how much to reveal online. Some people are very open, sharing the city where they live and their full names. Others have pseudonyms and never include photos on their blogs. Most bloggers, like myself, fall somewhere in the middle. You will have to find that perfect spot of being honest with your readers while maintaining privacy for yourself, your husband, and your children.

In conclusion, deciding to blog is not a huge decision. If blogging turns out to be a disaster, with a single click, the entire blog can be deleted. Or you can simply abandon the project. On the other hand, you may discover that writing on a blog fits you to a tee and truly complements your homeschool journey. You won’t know for sure until you try it.

Jimmie is a former public school teacher turned homeschooling stay-at-home-mom. Her only child, Sprite, is a creative middle school student who loves the arts and living books. Jimmie uses a loosely Charlotte Mason approach with lots of notebooking and field trips. Visit her blogs Jimmie’s Collage and The Notebooking Fairy.

This bog hop has been a blast! We have learned so much about our readers and discovered SO MANY amazing blogs. We’ve been so impressed by many of your sites and writing skills that we would love to open up the writing team again for new contributors! If you are interested in being a part of our HOTM family and submitting monthly articles, please email us. Submitting articles is easy here at HOTM, you just need to have writing skills and passion for supporting homeschoolers. If you ever run out article ideas, don’t worry, we have tons!

It’s a “not back to school photo” hop. This time, share your students! All too often, homeschoolers forget to take that token not-back-to-school photo. So, you can wear a backpack and new shoes like the typical first-day-of-school photos, or you can wear a batman costume, goggles and barefeet – like my homeschoolers. Come as you are. First-day-of school photos shared.

Blog Hop Rules

• The amount of traffic this hop has generated has actually crashed the server several times in the past two weeks!! We are actually pretty happy about this as it means you all are loving the blog hop! So if you visit and see the site down, don’t worry, it will be back up in minutes.

• To add your link, click the small blue button that says “Add your link” at the very bottom of the post. Please do not leave your link in the comment section of this post. Leaving your link in the comment section will most likely cause your post to be missed.

• Do not create an empty “placeholder” post to save your link high up in the blog hop list. If there is no substance or curriculum information in your post, it will be removed.

• You must link to your blog post permalink, not your blog URL. If you do not link to your POST, your link will be removed and you’ll have to come back and re-add it. Keep in mind that readers will still be visiting this blog hop months from now and if they click your link and end up on your blog homepage, they won’t be able to find your post. To find your post’s permalink: After you publish your post, go back to your blog and click on the post’s title. Copy everything in the top browser bar. Please see Darcy’s post on how to find your permalink for more details. For example:
  …
  • WRONG: http://www.milkandcookiesblog.com/
  • RIGHT: http://www.milkandcookiesblog.com/2011/07/not-back-to-school-hop-curriculum-week.html

Come back often to visit new additions all week this week, and next Monday is A Day in the Life. My personal favorite week of the hop! Grab a button so your bloggy friends can share their hard work, too.

It’s a school room hop. Tell us about your “school room”. This can be a dedicated space, or what you’ve made work. Post photos, storage ideas, comfy chairs. Your garage? Or dining room table? An actual school house? Show us where you school!

Blog Hop Rules

• To add your link, click the small blue button that says “Add your link” at the very bottom of the post. Please do not leave your link in the comment section of this post. Leaving your link in the comment section will most likely cause your post to be missed.

• Do not create an empty “placeholder” post to save your link high up in the blog hop list. If there is no substance or curriculum information in your post, it will be removed.

• You must link to your blog post permalink, not your blog URL. If you do not link to your POST, your link will be removed and you’ll have to come back and re-add it. Keep in mind that readers will still be visiting this blog hop months from now and if they click your link and end up on your blog homepage, they won’t be able to find your post. To find your post’s permalink: After you publish your post, go back to your blog and click on the post’s title. Copy everything in the top browser bar. Please see Darcy’s post on how to find your permalink for more details. For example:
  …
  • WRONG: http://www.milkandcookiesblog.com/
  • RIGHT: http://www.milkandcookiesblog.com/2011/07/not-back-to-school-hop-curriculum-week.html

Come back often to visit new additions all week this week, and next Monday is student school photo post. Get those “where we do school” photos ready! Grab a button so your bloggy friends can share their hard work, too.

This past year I have been on a de-cluttering spree. I’ve been de-cluttering our home, our home school, and our “stuff.” I have been trying to simplify things as much as possible, and it has been a blessing! As time went on though, I realized that there was still a great amount of clutter in my life. Mental clutter. My mind was always full of so much information and processing it all was becoming difficult, as well as very distracting.

Don’t get me wrong, as a home school mom I have found that the online community for home schoolers has been a huge blessing. Being home all day {everyday} with a house full of kiddos can be hard. No adult interaction! So peeking at Facebook throughout the day, “talking” to other moms in real time as the day went on was great. I felt like I was still an adult!

But then besides connecting with other moms, I started reading so many articles about different subjects, and my mind was continually trying to take it all in. Then I found myself comparing my home school to others, second guessing myself, or worse yet, was my home school life being portrayed as too “perfect?” Face it, we all tend to “clean up” a bit when we are posting our statuses and our blog entries. I was constantly checking my heart before I posted. Was I being authentic? Was I just looking for affirmation? Seriously, does it matter how many people “like” my page or my posts? Or my pictures? I try to portray with the utmost authenticity our ups and our downs. And I love encouraging others, but it all just seemed like too much sometimes.

Yet Facebook has also been a great witnessing tool for those who aren’t Christians or for those who don’t know much about home schooling. It has opened the door for some great conversations. However, recently I was just feeling the negatives outweighing the positives. I felt so distracted everyday with so much information about so many people and so many things going on in my head all at once! Information overload, to say the least! So I quit. Cold turkey. I vowed to not check Facebook, post on there, or get caught up in internet articles.

Let me tell you-the first day I got SO much done! I did so many things around the house I never thought I had time to do. I also promised myself if I felt the need to connect with another adult- I would connect with the Lord. I went to my Bible every time I felt the need to connect with someone. It was wonderful. I could feel God smiling and saying, “I’ve been here all along.” And I was truly present and focused on the kids. I didn’t have so much information swimming through my mind. I could think so much more clearly. I didn’t realize how distracted I was before. I know the kids could see the difference too. I was completely focused on them, their schoolwork, and the moment.

Will I be off Facebook forever? I doubt it. But I am still enjoying my time away from it, and I will be very cautious about getting too caught up in it if the time comes for me to go back on. It’s like anything- it can be a blessing and a curse. It’s knowing where to draw the line that is so important.

Karen DeBeus is married to the love of her life, Steve, and a homeschooling mom of 4 children ages 10-2. She was called to homeschool when her oldest was kindergarten age after thinking, “I could never do THAT!” Now she is passionate about encouraging others on their homeschool journey. She is also working on simplifying all areas of her life,including homeschool, and putting God first in all she does. Read more about her journey to simplify at www.simplylivingforhim.com.

photo credit: flickr